Best Songs of 2010 – Honorable Mentions

In 2010, Shakira continued her impressive win streak, releasing Sale el Sol just a year after the irresistible She Wolf.

After the latter record’s club-heavy focus, Sale el Sol was a return to the Latin dance and pop sounds that highlighted the early years of her career.

In a weird way, the record reminds me of Beck’s Guero, in that it’s a mature and measured synthesis of styles dabbled in over the previous decade. Probably the first time that comparison has been made.

It’s tough to pick just one song to represent this album. I’m tempted to go with one of the slamming dance tracks highlighted by guest rappers — ‘Rabiosa’ or ‘Gordita’ — but equally intrigued by the idea of highlighting one of the album’s more traditional rock songs.

And then there’s ‘Waka Waka,’ the World Cup sensation that probably deserves a spot on any year-end list.

But I’ve decided to go with ‘Addicted to You’ for its meringue beat and its neat demonstration of Shakira’s increasing comfort level in both English and her native Spanish. There’s no reason the chorus of this song has to be in English, or the verses in Spanish for that matter, but somehow both feel right. It reminds me of hearing my Cuban-American wife on the phone with her mother, slipping between the two languages without even realizing it.